Pesticide Labeling and Safety Data Sheets
Label versus labeling
The label is the printed material attached to the container. Labeling is broader: the label plus all supplemental written, printed, or graphic material that accompanies the product or is referenced on it. A Safety Data Sheet is not labeling - it is a 16-section hazard communication document required under OSHA's Hazard Communication Standard. Both are useful, but only the label carries the enforceable directions for use.
A reading order that saves exam time
Product name and formulation first, then the ingredient statement (active ingredients by percentage, plus inert ingredients), then the signal word and precautionary statements, then first aid, then personal protective equipment and the restricted-entry interval (REI), then directions for use - sites, rates, timing, preharvest interval (PHI), rotation restrictions, tank-mix partners - and finally storage and disposal.
Signal words
Category I products carry DANGER, with POISON and the skull-and-crossbones added when the toxicity is oral, dermal, or inhalation. Category II is WARNING. Categories III and IV both use CAUTION. Questions frequently test REI versus PHI: the REI controls how long people stay out of a treated area, while the PHI controls how long before harvest. They are not interchangeable, and where both apply, the more restrictive one governs the activity.
Worked example
A label lists a maximum of 1.5 pt/A per application and 4.5 pt/A per season. Three applications at 1.5 pt/A reach the seasonal cap; a fourth application is illegal even at a reduced rate, because the cap is cumulative rather than per application.